His works are more widely performed today than those of his contemporaries. Sor studied music at the Montsserrat Monastery, the Esccolania, at an early age. This school was reknowned for its sacred music education since the 1300's. While Sor wrote primarily for the guitar he also received considerable success for his operas and ballets. His popularity earned him a place in the household of the Duchess of Alba in his early twenties. He shared this patronage with the great Spanish painter Goya.
Sor, Goya and many other Spanish intellectuals allied themselves with the the French cause and when Joseph Bonaparte, the puppet king, was overthrown many of them found themselves in an awkward position. Sor chose wisely to immigrate to Paris. This move helped to internationalize the popularity of the guitar, as his performances recieved rave reviews in London and Paris. His Ballet Cendrillon was performed one hundred and four times between 1823 and 1830. Sor was the first guitarist to perform with the London Philharmonic. In fact, he was the only guitarist during its first one hundred years.
From 1828 to 1832, Sor lived in the same Paris hotel as Dioniso Aguado. They had become acquainted years earlier, in Spain. Sor dedicated a number of works to his comrade. The two are known to have performed at least three concerts together during their time there.
Sor's Methode pour la guitare was published in French, German and English versions. It included extensive text and illustrations displaying Sors concern not only with technique, but also the instruments acoustics and design. His technique involved short fingernails, which he found to be an inconvenience and the use of a table to support the position of the guitar.
Jrivero
Wed, 12/24/2008 - 21:29
There is very little on the net about Fernando Sor. This is one of the referred pages from Wikipedia. Catalunya's government should probably budget some serious effort to get Sor's work and life better recognized.
JRivero
Jared
Sun, 06/15/2008 - 05:14
Orlando Fraga lists 2 scores of songs for voice and guitar at:
http://orlandofraga.my-place.us/partituras.html
creativeguitar.org
Tue, 04/29/2008 - 09:30
hi Giancarlo
I am really sorry but i was searching the web and didn t find any scores only books to buy.
If anyone has it send it i will try to post it.
Giancarlo Sidoli
Mon, 04/21/2008 - 02:06
Is there any way to get Sor's songs for voice and guitar because I have read of them and have never seen recordings or sheet music. If at all possible could you upload them.
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